In 1975, Strathclyde Regional Council had controlled the newly formed Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service. But when the council was abolished in 1996, the 12 new unitary authorities were in consensus to keep the service as is.
It was formerly called Strathclyde Fire Brigade but recently in 2005, the name was changed into Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service to mirror the current responsibilities the service has. In other words, Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service of Strathclyde, Scotland with an area of 14,000 kilometers square and a population of 2,300,000. It is, therefore, the largest fire and rescue service in Scotland and in Europe covering the populated Glasgow and other remote and island communities.
In fact, in 2005, a book titled “Everyday heroes” was published containing all the activities of the service in the past 30 years.
The service has 111 fire stations in operation which are installed strategically all around the areas.
In Argyll and Bute, there are 2 fulltime stations, 13 retained stations and 27 volunteer stations while in East and West Dunbartonshire, there are 5 fulltime stations and only 1 retained station.
Renfrewshire and Inverclyde has also 5 fulltime stations and 1 retained station. Then both North East and West of Glasgow and South Glasgow all have 4 fulltime stations.
North Lankashire has 4 fulltime stations and 3 retained stations while the North and South Ayrshire has 4 fulltime stations, 12 retained stations and 3 volunteer stations.
The East Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire have 3 full time stations and 7 stations operating on a retained duty system and the South Lanarkshire has 4 fulltime stations, 7 retained stations and 1 volunteer station.
